Asking tough questions is not harassment
CJFE is gravely concerned by the arrest of journalist Antoine Trépanier, an employee of Radio Canada, by the Gatineau police (SPVG) on suspicion of criminal harassment.
Trépanier was making inquiries into the case of Yvonne Dubé, who was court ordered to stop her legal practice after being found to have worked as a lawyer in Ontario without a law license. Trépanier did connect briefly with Dubé for comment but following his initial questions she withdrew from a scheduled on camera interview. Dubé is an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada.
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CJFE intervenes in Toronto Star case to promote transparency in administrative tribunals
CJFE is intervening in a court case that could end secrecy in Ontario’s tribunals. On February 6, 2017, the Toronto Star filed a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms seeking to combat the lack of transparency that presently surrounds provincial administrative and quasi-judicial tribunals.
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Publication bans are hurting the national conversation
When news broke that Don MacIntyre appeared in court on sexual interference charges against a minor, media in Alberta were quick to jump on the story. The story was reported prominently by provincial and national outlets alike. It took its place amid dozens of similar allegations that were brought forward against high-profile political figures as part of the burgeoning national discourse around the #MeToo movement. MacIntyre, a member of the United Conservative Party (UCP) and member of the Alberta Provincial Legislature resigned his position in cabinet the day after he appeared in court and resigned his seat a few days later. Yet almost immediately, a justice of the peace issued a publication ban on reporting around the case, forcing media outlets to remove online versions of the story.
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The Rise of Canada's Cyber Spies
CJFE and RSF are deeply concerned by measures in Bill C-59, the federal government’s overhaul of Canada’s National Security framework, that threaten the integrity of journalism and the free expression rights of Canadians. The government of Canada must create a National Security framework that upholds human rights and is free from the potential for abuse.
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When Women Journalists Turn Off Their Microphones
In February 2011, the world was shocked by the news that CBS war correspondent Lara Logan was viciously attacked in Cairo’s Tahrir Square while covering the Egyptian revolution. But, as Logan discussed later in an interview with “60 Minutes,” her horrifying experience may not be so uncommon: What she called a “code of silence” exists surrounding sexual assault on female journalists, something she said “all of us have experienced and never talk about. But those who experience such attacks rarely report them, citing professional and cultural stigma as discouraging factors.
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